Davidson, N.C. – Fordham women's basketball capped the 2022-23 regular season with a resounding 74-65 win at Davidson on Saturday afternoon, leading by as much as 21 late in the contest. With the win, the Rams improve to 18-11 overall and 10-6 in Atlantic 10 play, while the Wildcats fall to 13-15 and 6-8, respectively.
In a game in which
Asiah Dingle scored her 2,000
th career point and notched her Fordham record-setting 101
st steal of the year, it was
Anna DeWolfe to lead the way, pouring in 28 points on 50.0% shooting from the field, ascending to third all-time in career scoring at Fordham.
Davidson kicked the game off on a 6-0 run before Fordham rattled off eight unanswered in response, taking the lead on
Kaitlyn Downey's second consecutive triple, 8-6, and again on a tough
Jada Dapaa layup, 10-9, which proved to be the go-ahead basket. Out of the media timeout, the Rams kept their momentum going with a 10-2 run to lead by nine, capping what ultimately was a 20-5 after those initial six points. The hosts closed the period out with a pair of baskets, though, in the final minute to cut the deficit to five.
It didn't take long for Fordham's lead to reach double figures, scoring the second quarter's first six points over the first three minutes. The Wildcats had two buckets to get back to a nine-point margin, but after the second, Fordham went on a big 10-0 run to push the lead to 19 before Davidson clawed back to a 13-point halftime score, 40-27. At the half, Dingle had already matched and broken the program's long-standing single-season steals record, set by Mary Hayes in 1977-78, with four steals to get to 101.
The Rams won an exciting third period, 21-18, seeing the lead reach 20 points for the first time. The visitors led by as large as 21 on two occasions in the final frame, the latter being 69-48. Davidson didn't relent, though, and scored seven unanswered heading into the media timeout, got within 11 a minute afterwards, and back to single digits for the first time since the second quarter with the game's final bucket.
DeWolfe shot 9-of-18 from the floor, 4-of-9 from behind the arc, and 6-of-6 from the line. Dingle racked up 11 points, six rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Dapaa led with eight rebounds, three offensive, to go with 12 points, two assists, and two steals, while Downey finished with 11 points, five boards, and three dimes.
Sarah Karpell netted seven points and
Matilda Flood added five.
Davidson outshot Fordham, 50.0% to 45.2%, but the Rams hit 9-of-20 threes (45.0%) to the former's mark of 26.3%. The Rams won the battle of the boards, 32-29, with a 12-7 margin on the offensive glass, with 14 turnovers to the host's 21.
With her final basket of the game, a slick pass from Dapaa for a wide-open layup, Dingle reached 2,000 career points, 980 of which has come with Fordham. That was also her 167
th theft with the Rams, now 10
th-most all-time in just two years with the program. DeWolfe, meanwhile, moved past Sharon Nast ('86) twice, into third all-time with 1,830 career points and third with 717 career field goals. She also passed Heather Donlon ('93) for second all-time with 234 career three-pointers. Downey notched her 300
th assist in the contest and moved up to eighth in career minutes played. She's also just seven rebounds away from 900 for her career.
The squad as a whole has entered several top-fives in program history. The Rams are third in scoring average (72.55), fourth in threes (226), fifth in points (2,104), fifth in field goals (816), and fifth in steals (264).
With its win and George Washington's loss at UMass, Fordham has secured the fourth seed at this week's Atlantic 10 Championship and a double bye. The Rams still await their opponent, the winner of #5 Richmond and either #12 Dayton or #13 VCU.
